If you're a woman you've likely heard of the book Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James. It's the story of a naive unworldly college woman named Anastasia or "Ana" Steele who meets up with wealthy businessman Christian Grey. It has not only received criticism from the secular world due to it being poorly written but also from Christians who have dubbed it as ungodly. It's bewilderingly ironic to see that E L James has named the leading male character "Christian" when his name reflects everything but Christ.

Just because it's fiction doesn't mean it's okay to read.

Yet even fiction can be a reflection of God's truth…

but Fifty Shades of Grey is anything but.

I didn't go see the movie Magic Mike, nor have I read Fifty Shades of Grey (I've read enough off the Wikipedia page for Fifty Shades to feel like I've already read it unfortunately)… and I won't go see the movie. (And btw, did anyone see that "Love Guru" scene on the Bachelor Monday night? That was ridiculously inappropriate on abc's part to promote and my heart went out to sweet Carly: you are beautiful, sweet, genuine and if any man has never seen that shame on him.) Back to the point of this... the fan base for the book Fifty Shades appears to be predominately married females in their thirties. It has been referred to as "Mommy Porn"… which frankly, makes me recoil with an upset stomach. I can't imagine any man (definitely godly man) wanting his wife to read Fifty Shades of Grey… a man who is following Christ is not going to condone that for his sweet wife to read. He is going to want his wife to put Christ first in her life… him second and he would naturally want her physical satisfaction and connection to come from him not from within the pages of a book with views of control, fantasy and abuse.

Fifty Shades of Grey is basically porn…

It doesn't represent anything Christ would be in agreement with.

He would not hand any woman that book and say: "Here, read this."

He would say: "Please put the book down, turn from this sin. Go and start anew."

We as women need to be especially tuned into what is entertainment and what is not. Watching a man strip down to his tightie whities (yes, you just read that) and strutting around is not entertainment Jesus would nod and say "Okay" to… seriously. Watching a woman being dominated by a man who is consumed with control is not going to be okay in God's book. Some of the questions we can ask ourselves are why do we view this book and movie as entertainment? Why are we feeling the need to read or watch this type of material? What are we feeling as though we are missing out on? What is lacking in our lives? Are we lacking excitement? Maybe one way to look at a lack of excitement in our lives is looking for healthy solutions to the issue. If I'm not on ADHD medication I am one restless person, like a squirrel in a cage, I constantly want to escape. If money were no object and I was sans medication I would be in Thailand or Ireland tomorrow… I want adventure, I want excitement, I want to travel. So I totally get the desire for some excitement in life… and that is perfectly fine, but how are we going about it? Are we in prayer with God? Are we looking for a fun vacation spot to explore and booking tickets? Are we taking a hot air balloon ride or zip-lining to feel a thrill? Are we stepping out of our comfort zone with volunteering? It's not that wanting excitement is bad, it's the actions were taking to do something about it that matter.

Excitement. How are we going about finding it?

There is something concerning with supporting books like Fifty Shades of Grey… and not just for Christian women but all women, really. I don't know that we necessarily have to be a Christian to find issue with the book… I don't know that we have to be female either. Men have plenty of reason to be up in arms about the material as well. This book is promoting female resistance, conditioning and submission, male dominance and abuse including emotional. The relationship between Ana and Christian has nothing to do with equality, with respect, with empowering women… is this a book a man would want his daughter reading? Likely not. For some reason even though this is 2015 the message is still being sent to women that to engage in sexual relationships equates to being all-powerful and being a modern woman. This cannot be further from the truth. Why is the glorification and glamorizing of women in sexual relationships being continued? Maybe we as a society need to find ways to redefine power and strength for females… because it seems our skewed definition of those two words have become confused and linked to sex for whatever reason.

We as a society need someone to step in… to hold both men and women accountable when it comes to porn. One would think that could possibly or should be the church. Perhaps we need the church to speak up, for Pastors to do sermons on the dangers of dabbling in erotic books and viewing these movies… men are visual creatures by nature… the porn industry has preyed on that fact with porn having exploded in popularity the past few decades via the internet and unfortunately now women are following in male footsteps by reading erotica. Until churches step out of their own comfort zones and are willing to (take risks) address both men and women and give guidance to them under Christ's guide to a fruitful life, society will continue to flounder. We can't expect change, transformation if churches are only focusing on the "luke warm" issues and not the hot and heavy topics so to speak.

We need to stay pure in our thoughts. Reading erotica only serves to create issues… no where in the Song of Songs do we find descriptions that include BDSM or words that represent a sinful nature… but instead the sweet, captivating, thrilling and intoxicating connection between a married man and woman who are absolutely smitten with one another in godly marital intimacy. The movie Fifty Shades will be released for Valentine's, a day that should be about love and showing the one we vowed to cherish forever the loving sacred standard God desires for us in our relationships.

When we rebuke the sins of the world and all its lust and gloss fancied up in a pretty package to lure us in, when we see it for what it truly is… a deceptive act and trick of the devil… we will stand in victory. When we say no to what the world cries is "just entertainment" but we know Jesus would take issue with us reading or watching… we may stand alone but that is perfectly okay. Standing alone isn't something to be ashamed of… being called "prude", etc is nothing to be embarrassed about, standing alone is brave, standing alone can be sticking to what you know Christ wants for you when the world is garnering for the opposite. And that's okay.

Christ isn't looking at what the world finds popular, He isn't concerned with what has the highest ratings, the best reviews or the most sales… He is most concerned with obedience, with us following him, with our total and complete surrender… putting down what He says to put down and living a fruitful life… what are we sacrificing? What are we giving up? What are we shedding in our life to support the kingdom?

One way to do that is to not pick up anything he deems evil and not life producing…